WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Staggering numbers show nearly half of all D.C. students are missing more than 18 days of school. The District’s school absenteeism rates are among the worst in the country. Now, a series of council bills aims to address the root causes of why children are missing school. It’s a strategy of both support and accountability.
According to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, D.C.’s numbers have increased slightly but not enough. During the 2022-2023 school year, an average of 43% of all students were chronically absent from school. At Luke C. Moore High School in Brookland, the numbers have gotten worse. According to OSSE, 85% of students at the Northeast High School were chronically truant last year, meaning they had over 10 unexcused absences.
“People saw the data this year, and people have been scared into action,” said Scott Goldstein Executive Director of the education advocacy group EmpowerED.
Goldstein said the numbers speak to social barriers too many families are facing, such as housing instability, poverty, and violence.
“These are real problems,” said Goldstein, “and what we need for that is resolution through case management to the specific challenges faced by families.”
“Not every kid who is missing school is going to go commit crime,” said Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen. “But we know that not much good happens when a kid is missing that much school.”
Monday evening, Allen introduced a bill that would expand safe passage and create a special fund to give schools with high absenteeism numbers more money and resources. The proposal also would lower the threshold for intervention so that instead of ten unexcused absences, school leaders step in after five.
“We got to figure out what's happening with that kid with their family with the support they need,” said Allen.
“We should not be locking up parents because of truancy,” said Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker. But the councilmember does want accountability. Parker will be introducing a bill later this week to allow DC Child and Family Services to launch an investigation into education neglect if a child has thirty or more unexcused absences. The proposal also calls for the Department of Human Services to step in after seven unexcused absences, instead of schools calling CFSA.
"DHS is best suited as a District agency to connect students to programs, resources, housing support services,” explained Parker. “It means something very different if CFSA is knocking at your door versus DHS knocking at your door."
The two bills join another already introduced by CM At-Large Robert White that calls on more attendance data from OSSE monthly instead of yearly, so lawmakers can address the problem before it hits crisis levels.
“What we need to do is kind of inspire young people to be in school, make it relevant for them, and solve the root causes of why they're not attending,” said Goldstein.
The Mayor’s office said the Mayor is also addressing absenteeism which could include additional legislation.
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